Street aud station indicator



C-. 'W. WRIGHT.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOB..

APPLICATTON FILED net. 25. 1915.

Patented Dec. 16,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET T.

NM NNNN m\\ c'. w. wmsm.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION mm ocT'. 25. I915. I 1,325,131. I Patented Bea-16,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTOFNNEY C. W. WRIGHT.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION men Oct. 25. 1915.

1,325, 131 Patented Dec. 16,1919.

V 6 SHEETS -SHEET 3 R 3 INVENTOR ATT'oRNEv C. W. WRIGHT.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25. 1915.

1,325,131. Patented'Dec. 16,'-1919.

lllLlQI ulmrr HHHlHlllm I & 1 w

, /.9 @0 F 9 @4 Iiii W um, I 6 79 Uflf 76. a: 7 111 WITNESSES I ATTOR NEY c. w. wmem.

STREET AND STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 25 1915.

1,325,131. I Patented Dec. 16,1919.

I 6 SHEETS-n-SHEET 6- INVENTOFI ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. WRIGHT, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

STREET AND STATIONINDICATOR.

Application filed October 25, 1915. Serial No. 57,829.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. WRIGHT, citizen of the United States, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street and Station Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric automatic street and station inclicators and is designed more particularly as.

an improvement upon that class of street and station indicators described and claimed in my copending application for Letters Patent, filed June 10th, 1915, Serial #33362.

Essentially, the invention may be said to consist of manually operated indicator control mechanism; although provision has been made for automatic operation, if desired; of an electrically operated annunciator or indicator mechanism; and a suitable electrical connection therebetween.

The object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the names of various streets, stations, stops or localities may be successively displayed for view, interiorly of a street railway car or other public conveyance, that the occupants of such car, if desirons of alighting, may prepare therefor in ample time and with the assurance that the stop thereafter made is positively as indicated and hence correct.

A further object of the invention is to generally improve in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts constituting said control mechanism and said indi cator; the nature of the mentioned improve ments being hereinafter more particularly pointed out and specifically set forth in the appended claims. 7

In describing my invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the street and station indicator mechanism;

2 is a top plan view of said mechamsm;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the loop or belt line mechanism.

Fig. 4* is an end view of the mechanism illu tr ted in ig. .3;

.Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of a novel type of electrical switch device;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the device illustrated in Fig. 5;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 illustrate a type of spool shaft;

Fig. 10 is an elevation of one of the spools or reels;

Fig. 11 is an elevation of the indicator control mechanism;

Fig. 12 is a section on the line 12-12 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 13 is an elevation of a modification whereby operation of the indicator control mechanism may be rendered automatic.

Before proceeding with a description of the drawings I desire to call particular attention to the fact that while I have evolved my invention with reference to its use as a street and station indicator, the same, if desired, may be automatically controlled and consequently used as a means for displaying advertising matter, etc.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals, l'designates as an entirety the annunciator or street indicator and 2 asan entirety the control means therefor, the former, the street or station indicator 1 being located conveniently within the car and in full view of the occupants thereof, and the latter, said control means, in such proximity to the motorman or car attendant as to be at all times subjected to his manual control.

In its preferred embodiment, the street or station indicator 1 may be said to consist of an electric motor 3, the shaft 4 of which carries a gear 5 for meshing engagement with a comparatively large gear 6 mounted on a shaft '7 journaled in bearings 8 there for. Said shaft. 7 in turn carries a gear 9 for meshing engagement with a gear 10 mounted on a shaft 11 journaled in bearings 12. Said shaft 11 is disposed in a plane below that of the shaft 7 and in parallelism therewith. A bevel gear 13 is mounted on shaft 11 for meshing engagement with a like gear 14 mounted on a shaft 15 journaled in a suitable bearing 16 therefor. Said shaft 15 carries a bevel gear 17 for meshing engagement with a like gear 18 in turn mounted on a vertical shaft 19. A gear 20 is mounted on shaft 19. Rotation of said ear. 20, through the intermediaries 21,22 an 23,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 16, 1919. V

will correspondingly rotate a gear 2% mounted on a vertical shaft 25. Said shaft 19 is equipped with a spool or reel 26 and shaft 25 with a spool or reel 27, said spools in turn supporting a display sheet or tape with the street and station names thereon.

That the loop or belt line mechanism may be operated by motor 3 I mount a gear 29 on shaft 11, said gear being disposed for meshing engagement with a like gear 30 mounted on a shaft 31 journaled in a suitable bearing 32. Shaft 31 carries a worm 33 for meshing engagement with a worm gear 34 mounted on a shaft 35 journaled in bearings 36. Shaft 35 carries a gear 37 for meshing engagement with a comparatively large operating gear 38 mounted on a shaft 39. Bearings 40 support the shaft 39. A relatively large disk 41 is mounted on shaft 39 for rotation with gear 38.

Uniformly spaced circumferentially alined concavities or apertures 42 are formedv adj acent the periphery of. said disk ii for the reception of a pin 43. An arm 44.- is mounted loosely upon shaft 39 for movement with said disk, the. pin 43, by reason of its engagement with one of the apertures 42, affording a means whereby said arm ii is locked to said disk in an adjusted position. Arm 44: is enlarged at its free end as indicated at 4 5 to overlap and extend beyond the periphery of the disk ll. Movement of said a-rmin the path of a circle subsequent to adjustment, will bring said arm to the position illustrated in Fig. 3 whereby to forcibly abut and depress a vertically slidable switch arm i6. slot 47 through. which a pin 48 rigid with a support 49 extends. Said arm 46 is pivoted as at 56 to a switch lever 51 in turn pivoted as at 52 to the support 49 so that movement of said arm it will cause said lever to be moved into and out of engagement with cooperating stationary contacts 52; a spring 51 being placed beneath the arm 46 to normally retain the lever 51 in such engagement. A stand supports the switch mechanism just described.

A solenoid 5 is disposed directly beneath the motor 3, the core of which is fastened by any suitable means to a bodily movable cylinder or the like structure 56. Movement of structure 56 is against tension of a spring (not shown) inclosed therein. A standard 5'? acts as a support for the structure 56 and also as a support for a stationmy contact element 58. The opposite end of the movable structure 56 from that attached to the core of the solenoid has fastened thereto as indicated at 59 an angle plate 60, the horizontal flat portion of which isp'rovided with a slot 61 through which guide pins 62 extend. Angle plate is mounted for sliding movement on a suitable support 63.-

Said. arm i6 is provided with a.

A substantially U-shaped bracket 64: is fastened to the plate 66 as indicated at 65, the extensions of said U-shaped plate aflording guides for a rod 66 which passes therethrough. Lugs 67 are hung to depend from a bridge plate 68 equippedwith contact rollers 69. A spring 70 embraces the rod 66 to abut the respective lugs 67 and the respective extensions of the bracket 64: that said bridge plate 68 may be yieldingly maintained against movement transversely of the plate 60.

Each of the rollers69 is mounted to rest on an insulating strip 71 fastened to the support 63. A. contact 72 is practically inclosed by one of the insulating strips 71 and disposed preferably intermediate the ends of said strip and adjacent one of the longitudinal edges thereof that one of said rollers 69 may contact therewith when the plate 60 is moved transversely of the support 63 through movement of the solenoid core 55 and the structure 56. Movement of the plate 60 in the manner stated will so move a contact '7 3 as to bring said contact into engaging proximity with the fixed contact 58 before mentioned.

Oppose-d trip devices 74 are pivoted as at 75 upon the top of the bridge plate 68. Movement of said bridge plate in the man ner stated will position said trip devices directly beneath a disk 76 mounted on the shaft 11. A pin 7'7 extendsbeyond the periphery of the disk 76 to engage with the respective trip devices by rotation of the shaft 11. Said trip devices 7% being pivoted for movement in opposite directions, it

is evident that the pin 77 will ride over one.

of said devices by rotation of the disk 76 and forcibly contact the other of said devices to laterally shift the plate 68 and in this manner remove one of the rollers 69 from engagement with its associate contact device 7 Such movement .of the bridge plate 68 against tension of the springs 4'0 hereinbefore described.

Coming now to a detail description of the spools26 and 27, attention is directed to the fact that said spools are constructed in duplicate and that description of but one will therefore ensue.

Both the shaft 19 and the shaft are madesectional, one section of each shaft being of a length equal to that of its-associate spool. In the description following, the lower sections of the shaft 19 will be designated 19 and the lower section of the shaft 25.

A head 78 is formed on section 19 of the shaft 19, the mentioned head being provided with a. transverse dovetailed groove 79 into which a oon'i-plemcntal extension 80 of the head portion 81 fitted that the two head portions 78 and 81 nray be locked to move in synchronism. Head portion 81 made fast to the upper section of the shaft 19 that the spool 26 may be removedrfrom the inclosing bOX or casing. Head 78 is equipped with a keeper bar 82 for co6peration with a latch bar 83 rigid with the head portion 81. Latch bar 83 is resilient that a lug 84: formed thereon may be withdrawn from a recess 85 therefor formed in keeper bar 82. lVhen said lug 84 is in fitting engagement with said recess or notch 85, the head portions 78 and 81 cannot be relatively moved. A pin 86, formed on the head portion 7 S to extend into the groove 79 thereof, is located for fitting engagement with a recess 87 formed in the enlargement 80 of the head portion 81 that movement of the respective head portions may be limited in assembling the sections of the shaft 19 and of shaft. 25. o

, Guide rollers 90 facilitate movement of the tape 28. Somewhat elongated thumb screws 91 connect the respective spools 26 and 27 to the shafts 19 and 25.

Passing on to a description of the indicator control mechanism, 92 designates a horizontally movable contact element and 93 a vertically movable contact element, said two elements coiiperating in the manner hereinafter more particularly described. Vertically movable contact element 93 is normally maintained in its uppermost position through the medium of a spring 9 1 atfiXed thereto and to the casing 95 within which the control mechanism is arranged. Said element 93 is laterally enlarged as indicated at 96, the enlarged portion bein" provided with a slot 97. through which a pin 98 extends, the mentioned pin affording a fastening means for an armature support 99 movable vertically with the element 93 and transversely independently thereof through out the length of said slot 97. Armature support 99 has securedthereto as indicated at 100 a plate member 101 to which the armature 102 is directly fastened. Electromagnetic devices 103 are disposed directly beneath the armature 102 that said armature may be held in engagement therewith when depressed and moved against action of spring 9%.

Contact element 92 carries a guide bar 104 for the armature support'99. Said guide bar also provides a means whereby said support 99 is shifted relatively to the enlargement 96 by movement of said element.

Pawls 105 and 106 are pivoted respectively as at 107 and 108 to extensions 109 and 110 of the armature support 99 for co operation with ratchet wheels 111 and 112. Ratchet 111 is mounted on a shaft 113 journaled in the control boX' 95. Said shaft carries a spool 114 and a gear 115, the latter having connection with a like gear 116 through intermediaries 117, 118 and 119. Gear 116 is mountedon a shaft 120' parallel with the shaft 113 aforesaid, said shaft mounting not only said gear 116, but a ratchet wheel 112 and'a spool 122, the latter, cooperating with spool 11 1 in supporting the tape 123 for the indicator control boX or casing. Rollers 124: facilitate movement of the tape in the manner desired and position said tape for movement beneath a sight opening 125 formed in said box or casing. -Pawls 105 and 106 are con nected by a spring 126 that the mentioned pawls may be yieldingly maintained in engagement with the teeth of the respective ratchets. By shifting element 92 to the left, pawl 106 will contact with ratchet 112 and by shifting said element 92 to the right, pawl 105 will contact with ratchet 111. Depression of contact 93 will cause the mentioned pawls to so engage the respective ratchets, (one or the other) as to rotate either the shaft 120 or the shaft 113 and consequently wind or unwind the tape 123 as the case may be.

Gear 116 is in mesh with a comparatively large gear, this last mentioned gear being mounted on a stub shaft 127 journaled in the casing 95 and a spring-motor casing 128. The spring motor (not shown) is mounted within said casing and is connected to said shaft 127 and to said gear 126 for a purpose hereinafter described. A stationary contact device 129 ispositioned directly beneath contact element 93 and a stationary contact 130 directly in the path of movement of contact element 92. o

A pawl 131 is pivoted as at 132 to the contact element 92 for'engagement with the ratchet 112 that a reverse movement of the shaft 120 cannot take place through action of the spring (not shown) inclosed in the motor casing 128. Said pawl 131 is yieldingly maintained in engagement with said ratchet by means of a spring 133 connected thereto and to said motor casing. Guides 134 support the contact element 92 for sliding movement.

Element 93 is equipped with a handle 135 that it may be manually depressed and element 92 with a handle 136 that it may be manually shifted or moved, said two handles projecting exteriorly of the casing 95 as shown to advantage in Fig. 12. A thumb screw 137 is mounted on the motor shaft 127 that operation of the gear 126 be sub jected, if desired, to manual control.

A suitable motor reverse mechanism is directly associated with the contact element 92. An arm 138 fulcrumed as at 138 is'pivoted as at 139 to said element 92. Said arm 138 is bifurcated as at 140 that a crank pin 14:1 forming a part of the motor reverse mechanism designated as an entirety by the numeral 142 may fit the mentioned bifurcation. 'A spring 143 is connected at one end to said pm 141 and at its opposite end to the arm 138, the mentioned spring yieldingly maintaining said arm and said pin in proper operative relation.

Spools 114 and 122 are each recessed as indicated at 14% and provided with a longitudinally extending rod 145 that the terminals of the tape 123 which is connected to said spools may be fastened to the core of the mentioned spools with facility and ease. The manner in which said spools are constructed is best illustrated in Fig. 10.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated the preferred arrangement of the mechanism constituting the indicator proper, the spools 26 and 27 being mounted on a shelf 146 located in the box or casing containing the entire mechanism and the shelf in turn supported as indicated at H62 a support being at each side of the box or casing. Motor 3 is elevated as indicated in Fig. 1, a suitable motor stand supporting said motor in the position stated. A sign board 148 (electrically illuminated if desired) may be positioned interiorly of the box or casing containing the indicator mechanism and displayed for view to the occupants of the car or other public convey ance within which said indicator is arranged.

Before proceeding with a description of the operation, I desire it to be understood that contacts 129 are in circuit with the solenoid 5 and with a suitable source of current supply (not shown). Contacts 58 and 78 are in circuit with the motor 3 and with the current supply. Contacts 69 and 72 are in circuit with the electromagnetic devices 103 and said current supply. Contacts 52 are in circuit with the motor reverse mechanism 142 and with said current supply. Contacts 130 are in circuit with the solenoid 54 and said current supply. The current supply may be derived through any suitable source such as an overhead wire or underground rail, the indicator being preferably used upon electric street railway cars and other electrically operated public conveyances.

In describing the operation, I will assume that the indicator is mounted for operation on an electrically propelled public conveyance such as a street railway car. Before starting a loop or belt line run the motorman or other attendant should set arm 4A as required and according to the number of streets to be crossed en route. Before coming to each street (when manually operated) the motorman or other attendant should de press handle 135 and through such action move contact element 93 into engagement with the contact devices 129 whereupon the electrical circuit within which solenoid 5a is arranged may be closed. Energization of the magnet 5% will cause structure 56 to be moved relatively to the support 57 and contact 7 3 brought into engagement with contact 58. Movement of the contact 73 in the manner stated will cause the circuit within which the motor is arranged to be closed. Movement of structure 56 will also cause plate 60 to he moved relatively to its support, such movement bringing roller contact 69 into engagement with the contact 72. Movement of the last mentioned contact in the manner stated will cause magnet 103 to become energized and armature 102 to be held in engagement with said magnet so long as said magnet is in a state of energization. Rotation of the motor shaft 4 through the intermediaries previously outlined, will cause the spools 26 and 27 to be rotated in synchronism and the display sheet or tape wound thereon to be moved a predetermined distance before the sight opening (not shown) of the indicator box or casing. Operation of the motor will also cause the loop line mechanism to be operated, and, through the gearing indicated at 29, 30, 3'3 and 34, set in motion the gear 38 and consequently the disk ell mounted to rotate with said gear. The gearing before mentioned is of such a nature as to cause the operating gear 38 to be moved but a fraction of a revolution and, upon each operation of the motor 3, cause the arm at to be moved farther away from the position indicated in Fig. 3.

Operation of the motor 3 will also set in motion the disk 76 mounted on shaft 11 and cause pin 77, extending from the periphery thereof, to contact with the trip devices 74. As the said pin 77 engages with that particular trip d vice immovable in the direction in which the pin is moving the bridge plate 68 on which the trip device is mounted will be shifted laterally of the support 63 to thus break the electrical circuit of which the contact devices 69 and 72 form a part. By thus breaking this circuit, magnets 103 are deenergized, the armature 102 released, and the contact element 93 returned through action of spring 94, to its original position and out of engagement with the contact elements 129. Such return movement of the element 93 will cause the electrical circuit within which solenoid 5 1 is arranged to be broken, such action permitting said solenoid to become deenergized and the plate 60, through action of the spring inclosed by structure 56, returned to its original posi tion, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Action of this last mentioned spring (not shown) will cause the trip devices heretofore mentioned to be moved bodily out of the path of movement of the pin 77 This return movement of the structure 56 will also break the electrical circuit of which contacts 58 and 73 are a part, and as said contacts are in circuit with the motor, it is evident that the latter will be stopped. each individual depression of the handle 135 Through such operation,

will cause the display sheet 28 to be moved 'Shaft 120 is connected to the shaft 113 as The dial and arm are then revolved back until the arm 44 is positioned directly over the switch lever 46, as shown in Fig. 3. Now each time handle 135 is depressed, the dial 41 and arm 44 are moved upwardly the distance between the two apertures. Vhen the original terminal is reached, by means of handle 136, lever 92 is moved to the right so that it is in engagement with switch 130. As soon as switch 130 is closed, the motor 3 will revolve in the opposite direction and the tape rewind. This will continue until the arm 44 reaches the position shown in Fig. 3, where it will depress lever 46 to stop the motor. It will be obvious that as the motor rotates in the reverse direction, the arm 44 will be moved upward to permit the lever 51 to again engage the contact 52.

When the arm 92 is moved to the right to bring the terminal thereof into engagement with contact 130, the pawl 131 will be disengaged from the ratchet 112 and the spring motor 128 will be released to thereby operate to rewind the tape 123 on the spool whereby it may be intermittently unwound in the manner stated above when the car again traverses a loop line.

It is to be noted that the spools upon which the display tape is wound, in both the indicating and control mechanism, are adapted to be releasably secured to their supporting stems through the medium of set screws or the like. In this manner the spool that is winding up must be fixed to its shaft, and the unwinding spool released from its shaft by disengaging its set screw. This is true in regardto both the control and indicating devices. Thus, the winding roll of tape owing to its constantly increasing diameter will be compensated for owing to the free unwinding movement of the unwinding spool relative to its supporting shaft thereby preventing any binding or strain upon the tape during winding or unwinding thereof.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 13, I have shown a means whereby contact element 93 of the indicator control mechanism may be depressed automatically'and other than through manipulation of the handle 135. Said modification includes a track obstacle 150 positioned in proximity to one of the railway rails and provided with an inclined surface, said roller being disposed at one end of a vertically slidable rack bar 152. Said rack bar is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 153 through which guide pins 154 extend. The teeth of said rack 152 are in mesh with a gear 155.

A second rack bar 156 is mounted to engage with the gear 155 at a point diametrically opposite to that point engaged by the rack bar 152. The last mentioned rack bar 156 is fulcrumed as at 157, the fulcrum pin operating in a slot 158 formed in said rack bar. The upper end of the rack bar 156 is extended at an angle as indicated at 159 and provided with an arcuate slot 160 through which a pin 161 extends. The mentioned pin projects laterally of thearmature support 101. 'Upward movement of the rack bar 152 will cause gear 155 to be rotated and rack bar 156 to be depressed. Movement of the last mentioned rack bar in the manner stated will cause the armature 102 to be drawn into engagement with the electro-magnetic dev1ces-103, such engagement permitting the circuit controlled through movement of element 93 to be closed and said magnet 103 energized as hereinbefore pointed out.

That the automatic control device may be rendered inoperative, I provide a rod 162, one end of which is hooked as indicated at 163 to engage with the rack bar 156 that said rack bar may be swung on its fulcrum 157 to disengage said gear. An enlargement 164 is formed on the bar 162 to contact with the indicator control box or casing that said bar 156 may be locked in its withdrawn position if desired. A spring 165 is arranged to embrace said bar 162 and to abut respectively the rack bar 156 and the control box casing that the former may be normally maintained in the position illustrated in Fig. 13. A knob 166 is to be formed on one end of the rod.162 that manual manipulation of said rod may be rendered possible.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Ht ving thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an indicator for common carriers, a display sheet, a first electrical circuit including therein a source of current supply and an electro-magnetic device, a second electrical circuit including therein a motor and a source of current supply, a third electrical circuit including therein a source of current supply and an electro-niagnetic device, a means movable to close the first circuit, means movable upon the energization of said first mentioned electro-magnetic device to close said second circuit, and said third circuit to energize the electro-magnetic d vice therein, said last-mentioned electro-magnetic device operating automatically to hold the first mentioned circuit closing means against return movement, motor driven mechanism for moving the display sheet, and a means operated by the motor to break the third circuit, to deenergize the magnetic device therein, and release the circuit closing means to thereafter stop the motor subsequent to a predetermined movement of the display sheet, substantially as described.

2. In an indicator for common carriers, a display sheet, a first electrical circuit including therein a source of current supply and an electronnagnetic device, a means to close said first circuit, a second electrical circuit including therein a source of current supply and a motor, a means to close said second circuit upon the energization of said magnetic device, a third electrical circuit including therein an elec-tro-magnetic device and a source of current supply, the electro magnetic device in said third circuit oper ating to maintain the first circuit closing means in a circuit closing position, motor driven mechanism for moving the display sheet, and a means operating automatically to break the third circuit subsequent to a predetermined movement of the display sheet, substantially as described.

3. In an indicator for common carriers, a display sheet, a first electrical circuit including therein an electro-magnetic device and a source of current supply, a spring pressed member movable against tension of its associate spring upon energization of said electromagnetic device, a second .electrical circuit including therein a motor and to retain said first circuit closed, and means driven by said'motor to break the third cire cuit, substantially as described.

i. In a, street and station indicator for common carriers, a display sheet, mechanism including a motor operable to move said display sheet in one direction, an electrical circuit including therein a motor reverse mechanism and source of current supply, a rotatable disk, a. means rotating said disk through operation of said motor, an arm adjustable relatively to said disk, means to lock said arm against movement subsequent to adjustment, and a means disposed in the path of movement :of said arm to be engaged thereby when said display sheet shall have reached its limit'of movement to breaksaid electrical circuit for the purpose specified.

In testimony-whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES l/V. lVRIGHT. l-Vitnesses MARGUERITE WRIGHT,

F. M. lVmeH'r. 

